This invention relates to side rails for beds and more particularly to modular side rail systems for forming skeletal structures of differing length side rails for hospital beds using various combinations of only two major skeletal components.
Health care facilities typically provide patients with beds that have side rails to prevent patients from falling out of their beds during sleep or seizures and to provide a convenient location for controls for bed positioning, nurse call buttons, speakers, television, room lighting, etc. Hospital beds are provided with side rails of differing lengths to meet the patient's needs and the hospital's aesthetic preferences. Therefore, hospital bed suppliers must have access to hospital bed side rails of varying lengths so that they can meet their customers' preferences in filling orders for beds. Hospital beds typically include side rails on each side of the bed. Often components of left and right side rails are not interchangeable requiring bed suppliers to maintain additional components in their inventories.
Hospital bed suppliers would welcome a modular side rail that includes a skeleton which can be assembled in varying lengths using a minimum number of components designed to be freely interchangeable between left side rails and right side rails.
A bed side rail system in accordance with the present invention includes a first skeletal end section having an exterior end and in interior end with a connector thereon, a second skeletal end section substantially identical to the first skeletal end section, and at least one extender having a first end with a connector thereon and a second end with a connector thereon connectable to the connector of the first and second skeletal end sections. The first and second skeletal end sections can be directly connected through the connectors on their internal ends to form a shorter length side rail, the connector of the first end section can be directly connected to one end of an extender and the connector of the second skeletal end section can be connected to the second end of the extender to form a side rail having a longer length. Multiple extender sections can be disposed between the first skeletal end section and the second skeletal end section to form even longer bed rails.
It will be appreciated therefore, that the invention is a side rail frame comprising a pair of end sections each having a cross sectional extruded shape providing an exterior and interior end such that the interior ends of the end sections are joinable to form a side rail frame. Extender sections are also provided which are joinable to the end sections to form extended side rail frames.
Features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of an illustrated embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.